He might not wear the armband for Aston Villa but that won't stop Mile Jedinak leading from the front in the Championship play-off final against Fulham.
The Caltex Socceroos skipper heads to Wembley early Sunday morning (2am AEST) with the invaluable experience of having won 'football's richest match' with Crystal Palace in 2013.
Jedinak captained the Eagles in their tense 1-0 triumph over Watford and he's eager to lend that know-how to a new set of Premier League hopefuls.
"I think I just have to cast my mind back to the first time when I did go there and the build-up to that, and some of the moments that I thought were key at the time," the 33-year-old said.
"It was just getting that little bit of knowledge off a manager, a team-mate who had been there and I thought you know what, looking back on it now, maybe not appreciating it as much then, but looking back on it now and thinking yeah that was actually a really good thing – why we did that or what was said to me then.
"So if I can pass some of that knowledge on and if some of my team-mates can do that for some of the other boys then I'll be doing everything I possibly can to make it happen."
Jedinak's much-admired temperament has been forged in the pressurised environments of two FIFA World Cups, an AFC Asian Cup final and three seasons in the Premier League, and his ability to stand up in key moments has already proved instrumental for Villa.
The 75-time international headed the only goal in the two-legged semi-final meeting with Middlesbrough to push his side within one match of the promised land.
WATCH: Jedinak's first-leg winner in the Championship semi-finals
As they approach the end of a second successive season outside the top-flight, Steve Bruce's men are being met with increasing expectation from a supporter base unfamiliar with their current exile.
Jedinak insists the task of restoring the club to former heights has been embraced by the squad.
"No one's got a divine right to get to the Premier League. You can't think like that," he said.
"But does this club with all its history and everything else deserve to be in the Premier League? Without a shadow of a doubt.
"To be tasked with that responsibility of trying to do it, the boys and everyone in the squad realises that and they're looking forward to that.
"No one's really shying away from it anymore, which has taken time and it's taken a lot of hard work, sweat and tears as they say, but we're all galvanised and ready to put in one big performance."
And with the likes of Jedinak leading alongside John Terry, Villa appear to be in safe hands.
"We've now been given this opportunity to try and make something special happen at this football club and we don't want to let it pass us by," the inspirational Aussie added.
"I'll do everything I possibly can up until that point to make sure we're ready to go."
